Process and apparatus for treating hydrocarbons



Feb.. 1G, l931. L, KlRSCl-{BRAUN Y 1,791,566

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING HYDROCARBONS Filed sept. 1, 1920Yindented Feb. 1o, 1931 i -UNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE;

LESTER KIRSCHBRAUN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSALA OILPROD- UCTS COMPANY, OFv CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION' O F SOUTHDAKOTA PROCESS APPARATUS FOR TREATING HYDROCARBONS 0 Application filedSeptember 1, 1920. Serial No. 407,419.

rlhis invention relates to improvements in process and apparatus fortreating hydro.

carbons and refers more particularly `to one adapted to the cracking ofpetroleum oil to make gasoline or gasoline-like bodies.

rlhe invention also more specifically refers to` a so-called continuousprocess, in which the heating zones and vapor .zones are not separateunits. ln a process of this character the oil to be cracked may becontinuously fed through a series of tubes or a .coil ofpipe seated inthe furnace and the hot oil delivered from said tubes by atransfer lineto a vapor chamber located preferably outside of the furnace. lnprocesses ofl this character, it is desirable to maintain the oil in theheating tubes in the liquid phase in order to avoid the precipitationanddeposition in 'carbon in that part of the apparatus which issubjected to the heat of the furnace. ln other words, if the oil israised to such a temperature as to cause vaporization in the heatingtubes, the latter will soon become clogged or seriously injured and theoperation has to be prematurely terminated.

It has also been found that. the difference of a very few degrees oftemperature in the oil at thepoint it leaves the'heating tubes is'suiicient to cause vaporization and consequent precipitation of carbon.I wish to emphasize that in order to operate the process over anextended period of time, without the necessity of shutting down theplant, it is necessary to maintain the temperature of the liquid at thepoint of transfer from the heating tubes to the 'vapor chamber withinVery narrow limits. lf'the oil is too hot, this undesirable vaporizationtakes place in the outlet end of the heating tubes, while if thetemperature is not suiiiicentlyl high, the proper degree of cracking orconversion is not obtained.

l The object of the invention'is, first, to insure a constant anduniform temperature of the oil inl the heating tubes at the point of thetransfer o f such oil into the vapor chamber tubes of four inch internaldiameter.

vention, I have shown the accompanying drawings in which the singlefigure gives a rather diagrammatical view of an apparatus suitable forcarrying out the invention.

` Referring to this drawing, 1 designates the furnace in which ismounted the heating element or coil 2, which may take the form ofhorizontal extended superimposed tiers or connected pipes or tubes, as,for example, The oil to be treated is delivered by the pump 3,

through inlet line 4 and delivery line 5 to the heating coil. This pumpis actuated by motor 6. The oil passes through the heating coil and thetemperature is gradually raised to the desired point. The oil, whilestill in liquid phase, passes out of the coil to the vapor chamber 7through transfer line 8. rlhe vapors pass out of the vapor chamber 7through line 9 to condensencoil 10 and thence to receiver 11. Thisreceiver 11 is provided with liquid drawoff line 12, controlled by athrottle valve 13 and gas outlet line 14, controlled by valve 15. The vaor chamber is provided with liquid drawolfp line 16, controlled by valve17.

Describing now more particularly the salient feature of the invention;in the transfer line 8 is interposed a pyrometer 18, which controls thethermostatically operated motors' 6. The arrangement is .such that whenthtemperature of the oil in the transfer line becomes too hot, thethermostatical arrangement will increase the speed of the motor and thusincrease the supply of vfresh cool 'oil being fed to the heating tubes.vContrarywise, when the oil in the transfer line is too cool, thethermostatically operated motor will automatically reduce itsA speedandfeed less oil to the heating coils. By this mechanism, l am enabledto maintain the temperature of the oil in the transfer line at apredetermined temperature and within very narrow limits. For example, ifit is desired to maintain the temperature of the oil at point oftransfer to the vapor chamber at 800 F., this arrangement will permit ofmaintaining the oil within 2 either way. Where a manually controlledvalve is relied upon, the temperature in practice will actually varyfrom 40 to 500. This is true for the reason that in order to maintain aclose regulation there must be constant variation in the speed of thepump, which is not possible to obtain within narrow limits by manualcontrol. rlhe process Will lvparate Whether the oil is cracked at atmospheric pressure or at, say, 100 pounds pres sure. By means of thisarrangement, the process can he carried out for an extended period oftime Without producing carbon in 1h@ heating tubes.

l'. claim as my invention:

l. An improvement in an oil cracking process of a continuous type, inwhich the oil is heated to a cracking temperature While flowing througha heating coil and thereafter delivered to an enlarged zone, whichcomprises controlling the temperature imparted to the oil in the heatingcoil by varying the quantity of the oil supplied to the heatingcoilthrough thermo-responsive means actuated by variations in thetemperature of the oil issuing from the heating coil.

2. An improvement in contimious` oil cracking process, in which the oilis heated to a cracking temperature While owing once through a heatingcoil and thereafter delivered to an enlarged reaction zone, whichcomprises automatically varying the quantity of oil supplied to theheating coil, responsive to variations in the temperature of the oilbeing transferred from the heating coil to the enlarged reaction zone.

3. ln the art of converting heavy into lighter oils. wherein anadvancing stream of oil is heated to a craclting temperature and thentransferred to a reaction Zone, the improvement consistingin controllingthe temperature imparted to the oil stream being heated responsive tovariations in the ther mal condition of the oil stream as it istransferred to the enlarged zone to maintain said stream as it istransferred to the reaction zone at a substantially uniformpredetermined temperature.

4. ln the art of converting heavy into lighter oils, wherein anadvancing stream of oil is heated to a cracking temperature, and thentransferred to a reaction zone, the im,- provement consisting incontrolling the heat imparted to the oil undergoing treatment in theheating zone, in regulating such control in response to variations inthe thermal condition of the oil stream to maintain said stream as it isbeing transferred to the reaction zone at a substantially uniformpredetermined temperature.

5. In an apparatus'for converting heavy into lighter oils, thecombination with afurnace, of a heating coil therein, through which astream of oil is continuously advanced, a reaction zone, means fortransferring the heated oil to the reaction Zone, means for con trollingthe temperature imparted to the oil passing through said coil, andthermal means ii/enses responsive to variations in the temperature ofthe oil heated in the coil, regulating said control means to maintainsaid stream of oil as it is being transferred to the reaction zone at asubstantially uniform predetermined temperature.

6. ln the art of converting heavy into light-- er oils wherein a streamof oil is continuously advanced through a heating coil to be healted toay cracking temperature and then transferred to a reaction Zone Whereconversion occurs, the improvement consisting in controlling the amountof heat applied to the oil stream in transit through the heating zone,in regulating such oil temperature in response to variations in thetransfer temperature of the oil by varying the quantity of heat providedrelative to the volume of oil advancing through the heating Zone dur inga given period of time to maintain said oil stream as it is continuouslytransferred to the reaction zone at a substantially prede terminedtemperature.

i. ln an apparatus for converting heavy into lighter oils, thecombination with a furnace hav-ing a heating zone, of a heating coildisposed therein, means for continuously advancing a stream of oilthrough said coil, a reaction zone, means for controlling thetemperature imparted to the oil passing through said zone by varying thequantity of heat provided relative to the volume of oil passing throughsaid coil in a given period of time, thermal responsive regulating meansactin@ in response to variations in the temf perature of the heated oilin the coil for reg ulating said controlling means to maintain the oilstream as it is being transferred te the reaction zone at asubstantially uniform temperature.

8. l'n the art of converting heavy into lighter oils wherein a stream ofoil is continuously advanced through a heating coil to be heated to acracking temperature and then transferred to a reaction zone Whereconversion occurs, the improvements consisting in controlling the amountof heat apu plied to the oil stream in transit through the heating zone,in regulating the temperature to which the oil is raised in response tovariations in the transfer temperature of the oil by varying the ratiobetween the heat pro- Lvided and the volume of oil advancing through theheating zone during a given period of time to maintain said oil streamas it is continuously transferred to the reaction zone at asubstantially predetermined temperature..

9. In an a paratus for converting heavy into lighter oils, thecombination with a furnace having a heating zone, of a heating coil.disposed therein, means for continuously advancing a stream. of oilthrough said coil, a reaction zone, means for controlling thetemperature imparted to the oil passing through said zone by varying theratio between the heat provided and the volume of oil passing throughsaid ooil in a givenA period of time,

thermal responsive regulating means acting n response to variations inthe temperature of the heated oil in the coil for regulating saidControlling means to maintain the oil stream asit is being transferredto the reaction zone at a substantially uniform temperature.

LESTER KIRSCHBRAUN.

